lobbyist

noun

lob·​by·​ist ˈlä-bē-ist 

plural lobbyists

: one who conducts activities aimed at influencing or swaying public officials and especially members of a legislative body on legislation : a person engaged in lobbying public officials

The new rule says that if you were a registered lobbyist in the past two years, you can't work for the administration on any issue you touched. After you leave government, you can't lobby the administration at all.

—Jacob Weisberg

Because so many lobbyists have past experience on Capitol Hill, they usually have personal ties both to members of congress and to their key staffers, who vet and prioritize the earmark requests.

—Ken Silverstein

Examples of lobbyist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

O’Leary, who is the exhibition industry’s top lobbyist, has a different constituency, one that is worried that more consolidation will lead to fewer movies being produced. —Brent Lang, Variety, 14 Apr. 2026

Dozens of shocking examples Kim Stone, lobbyist for the California District Attorneys Association, agreed that only a small percentage of people given diversion go on to commit violent crimes. —Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 12 Apr. 2026

There, Blanton says, corporate lobbyists paid between $25,000 and $100,000 for lawmakers' attention, and a pro-business group called One Main Street paid $25,000 for their hotel rooms. —Shaun Boyd, CBS News, 11 Apr. 2026

When the White House proposed winding down SLS and the Orion spacecraft after just three flights in its budget request to Congress last May, lobbyists from contractors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin flooded Capitol Hill. —Sana Pashankar, Fortune, 11 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1842, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for lobbyist

• hobbyist